Ad Hominem
by Jezza7630
Summary: The Vice-Pesident of the USA vanishes on British soil, and who better to blame than Britain? Alex must find him before WWIII erupts, with the help of someone he thought dead. Rated for some language and later violence.
1. Chapter 1

Ad Hominem (1- directed against a person rather than against his or her arguments.

2- based on or appealing to emotion rather than reason)

Summary – The Vice-President ofthe United Statesvanishes on British soil and who better to blame than Britain? Alex must find the Vice-President before WWIIIerupts – with help from someone he believed dead

Warnings – Mild violence in later chapters and mild coarse language

A/N- Okay, this is my first fanfic and I welcome every ones comments on my spelling, grammar and plot. I need to know what I do wrong so I can fix it (hopefully lol). The characters may be OOC, but that's only because I'm not a very good writer, as you'll discover if you can actually be bothered reading anymore. Anyway… Please review so that I know what I can do better!

Thanks,

Jezza.

* * *

As he flicked the ball from his foot to his chest and back again, Alex lost himself in the normality of the football training session and relaxed with his friends in the afternoon sun. He had been back at school for almost two weeks now and had finally gotten though enough of his catch-up-work to play football again. His coach had let him back into the team without question, as Alex had miraculously managed to sat fit through his bouts of 'sickness'.

However, not everything was quite as easy to get back into order.

Jack had been incredibly worried about Alex and the emotional toll of the work from MI6, but she was finally ready to get back into the normal stream of life and leave the past behind. Alan Blunt had told Alex that he would not be called into work unless extenuating circumstances presented themselves, which Alex had translated as 'only if another mad man decides he wants to take over or destroy the world and MI6 has iron-clad proof'. Or that's what he hoped it meant anyway.

Alex had been back at school for two weeks after working steadily through his extra work throughout the Christmas break. That was four weeks without a call from MI6 and Alex was actually beginning to believe them for once. More than anything, he was glad they hadn't called during his time with Sabina when she had come over from America for Christmas. They had spent a lot of time together, going to movies and cafes and just relaxing at Alex's house. She had gone home two days before her term was meant to start again America, after extracting an explicit promise from Alex that he would visit her the next chance he got.

Alex smiled to himself as he and his team started a game of football which Alex was only paying half a mind to.

He really liked Sabina, and she had made it perfectly clear over her visit that she had feelings for him too. He couldn't wait for them to meet up again.

"RIDER!" His coach's angry voice echoed across the park. "Pay attention!"

Alex came out of his disjointed thoughts abruptly as the ball went sailing past his head and he immediately spun around to chase it. He caught up with it quickly and kicked it back, chasing after it with a renewed passion. Just a few minutes later he had completely lost himself in the game.

* * *

Alex had just finished getting changed when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Without thinking about it he got it out and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Alex? This is Mrs Jones" the silky yet professional voice on the other end said crisply. "I'm afraid there's been an emergency. We need to pick you up straight away."

Alex wearily noted to himself that he could always refuse the assignment later if he had to, and he should probably see what the so called 'emergency' was before outright rejecting it. After all they had agreed to only call him in 'extenuating circumstances' – not that he trusted their judgement of that particular situation.

"I can find my way over to the bank my self, Mrs Jones," Alex replied, allowing the annoyance to slip into his voice.

"Not this time, I'm afraid, Alex." There was a pause before Mrs Jones began talking again and Alex could hear shouting on the other end of the line, though it was muffles and disjointed, so Alex was unable to make out the words.

"We need to take you to COBRA again, Alex. I'm afraid that there is a rather large emergency and your services could be an invaluable tool against the threat."

'_COBRA?' _Alex thought. He groaned audibly and made a quick decision.

"I need to talk to Jack but I can be ready and at home in ten minutes."

"Thank you." She seemed to hesitate for a moment. "I'm sorry, Alex. We wouldn't have called you unless it was important"

Alex sighed, "I know, Mrs Jones, I know." And with that he hung up. Now all he had to do was get home and try to talk Jack into it.

* * *

He barely had enough time to tell Jack where he was going, so there was no room for argument from her. Alex decided that this, at least, was a blessing as he ran from the house again at the sound of a car horn blaring from the front of the house.

"YOU'RE GOING WHERE?!" she yelled from the front porch. "Alex?" The way she said it, her voice hopeless and full of concern and worry, more than anything else, made him stop and turn around to try to comfort her.

"Jack, you know I don't want to go, but this is really important. I promise that I will only go if there really is no other option but we don't even know what this is yet. It could be nothing, so don't worry. I'll call you as soon as I know what's going to happen, okay?" Alex was unable to meet her gaze and simply turned around, jumping into the car before she could protest. Slowly, the car pulled away from the house, leaving Jack gazing wistfully after it.

* * *

A/N - Okay, I know that it's short and badly written... and basically a load of c--, but I have a plot set out and it's the only part of this I like so far, but please review. I want to know what others think so I know if it's worth writing this.

Thanks for reading everyone!  
Jezza.


	2. Chapter 2

Ad Hominem (1- Directed against a person rather than against his or her arguments.

2- Based on or appealing to emotion rather than reason)

Summary – The Vice-President of the United States vanishes on British soil and who better to blame than Britain? Alex must find the Vice-President before WWIII erupts – with help from someone he believed dead

Warnings – Mild violence in later chapters and mild coarse language

* * *

A/N Wow! Did you read that right? Yes, you did! There is _finally_ an update! (And I bet there is more than one person who sat there looking at the email alert that they got thinking, 'Ad Hominem? Is that a story? I don't remember that!')

Ok, so _some_ of the time away from fanfiction I can explain (broken computer, school exams etc.) and the rest was.... well..... pure procrastination I suppose :). Before I posted this, I made sure that I re-made all of my notes and research (*resists urge to throw computer out window*) and made some headway on the next chapter.

Oh, and one small note, my spelling will be in New Zealand spelling. I have no idea how different my spelling is compared to other people's but yeah... There may be some small differences. They shouldn't be too noticeable though (and yes, I _am _going to use that as a thinly veiled excuse for my spelling mistakes).

Thanks to all of the people who reviewed. You made some great comments that I can work from and you were all very encouraging! They were all lovely, but I shall reply to a couple here (let's just hope they remember reviewing!)  
**L8rg8r123 **- Na, I did mean COBRA, like in the 5th book with the meeting and the talking and the whatnot :)  
**Nyxelestia - **I'm going to make up my own character for the VP simply 'cause I'm not American and I don't know jack... shite... about politics. Heh, and no matter who I chose there was probably going to be someone wanting to shoot me!  
**M333gan - **Thanks for the drink, though it took a while for the caffeine to kick in! :)

Anyway. Onwards, dear readers!

* * *

Blunt was briefing Alex as the car brought them closer and closer to Downing Street, if you could call it briefing. He seemed to be doing all he could to avoid telling Alex what the so-called disaster was. As soon had he gotten into the car, he started talking to Mrs Jones, who was seated in the passenger seat in the front.

"Mrs Jones, are all of the notes ready for the meeting?" He had replied to an answer in the positive with a, "Good. We will need all of the information we can if we can convince them of our innocence. And call Smithers. Make sure that all of the gadgetry is ready, no matter the outcome of this meeting. I need all of his technology ready to be used at a moment's notice."

Blunt finally turned his attention to the teen, who was sitting calmly on the seat next to him. "Thank you, Alex. I know that you don't want to be here right now, but we are in the middle of a crisis. We have some people here from the United States of America who are leading an operation and one of them has specifically asked for you."

"Who are they? And how do they know me? I haven't exactly been advertising myself." Said Alex, and if his look towards Blunt was slightly accusatory, nobody commented on it.

"The one that asked for you is Joe Byrne. I believe you know him? He is the deputy director for operations in the Covert Section of the CIA. His boss, the director, Mitchell Reynolds, is also here. They will be heading up any operations that arise from any decisions made at this meeting."

"Why the CIA involvement? And why are they leading the operations if it's a British emergency?"

"Because it's not just a British emergency. While the crisis is indeed centred in Britain, a prominent American figure is involved and the Americans..." He trailed off, looking towards Mrs Jones, who, looking in the rear view mirror, nodded lightly. Blunt, reassured by his colleague's decision continued, "The Americans no longer trust us."

"Didn't we leave off well after the whole 'Invisible Sword' thing?"

"Between Britain and America as a whole? Yes. But there are certain individuals within the British government who still maintain that the Americans could have, and should have, done more. They believe that they should have complied with the demands instead of risk the lives of millions of British school children on a gamble that they could have found the dishes. And they did lose the gamble. The only thing that prevented the deaths of millions was you. And now, the Vice-President of the United States has disappeared, and we have practically no information that could help in this situation."

"So the Americans don't trust the British anymore and the Vice-President is missing. Why did Joe Byrne call me in?" Alex asked sceptically. While the situation was certainly important, he didn't see how he could help.

"We aren't particularly sure. He must trust you to some degree or he wouldn't have even mentioned you. The Americans refuse to leave, or even use our resources. They don't trust us at all," he ended bitterly.

"Can you blame them though," muttered Mrs Jones quietly, speaking for the first time. Seeing both Alex and Blunt looking at her she expanded, "A few months ago, nearly all of the school children in London almost died because the Americans didn't comply with demands, however impossible those demands were to fulfil. Some British people, all with a great amount of power and influence on the government, might I add, believe quite openly that the Americans were to blame for the near disaster. And now, three months later, just enough time to create a plan of this magnitude, the Vice-President of the United States disappears on British soil. The most likely suspects would be those with access to the Vice-President's itinerary and personnel information, and with enough political power to hide behind powerful people if they get caught. The chance that this was a job by the British government, however unlikely it may seem to you or I, is incredibly high right now."

There was a small silence as Blunt and Mrs Jones allowed Alex some time to think over the implications of that. His next question however, surprised them both.

"So why does Byrne trust me?"

"We're not all that sure. We do know that he must trust you to some extent, or he never would have mentioned you at all, let alone requested your presence at this meeting." Blunt replied.

"It may be because of your independency. You have certainly worked outside of MI6 before, both by yourself and with other agencies. Joe Byrne may simply feel more comfortable with you working for the cause than someone else because he knows you, and your sense of right and wrong. He would have more reason to trust you than any other of MI6's people, and we requested one of our own in the operation. It was the only condition they would agree to, and they decided who they wanted."

"We're here, sir." Interjected the driver who had thus far been silent.

Blunt suddenly looked older and far more tired. Cursing lightly, he stepped out of the car and held the door open for Alex, who stepped out quickly. Looking up, he saw through, for the second time, into 10 Downing Street.

* * *

Okay.... It was short.... Very short.... But the next chapter is already on it's way! Sorry guys.

So, like it? Hate it? Too busy choking on my over-abundance of commas to review? :) Well, if your airways are clear, chuck me a comment for me to use for the next chapter!  
Thanks,  
Jezza


	3. Chapter 3

Ad Hominem (1- Directed against a person rather than against his or her arguments.

2- Based on or appealing to emotion rather than reason)

Summary – The Vice-President of the United States vanishes on British soil and who better to blame than Britain? Alex must find the Vice-President before WWIII erupts – with help from someone he believed dead

Warnings – Mild violence in later chapters and mild coarse language

* * *

Well... This is certainly a fast update. It's only been a day or so :). I must have been feeling guilty for leaving you hanging with that pitiably short update before! And I've just gotten back to school as well, so somehow, my being at school and having homework to do motivates me to get fanfiction written. As my friends frequently tell me... I am _so_ weird...... Okay.... random moment over, time to get to the story.

..... Almost.....

Again, thank you for the lovely reviews. They were really helpful and I appreciate all of the encouragement. I'll comment on a few again....  
**Nyxelestia**- Thanks for your comment, I've tried to make this one more realistic and detailed. I hope you like it! ^.^  
**TheNotedMusician-** for your reviews on both of the chapters, thanks! I'm glad you like the style and I hope this one is to your liking!  
**And to the random anonymous reviewer from New Zealand** – Heh. We should have a special symbol like... um.... gumboots or kiwis or..... um..... those new 'Kiwi As' chips (what were Bluebird _thinking_?!).

Moving on...Onwards! Hopefully you all enjoy this slightly longer chapter!

* * *

The inside of the building looked exactly as Alex remembered. There were the same expensive paintings on the walls and the chandeliers were just as pristine. Alex, Blunt and Mrs Jones quickly crossed the entrance hall to the office in which the meeting would take place. They walked through the door with no hesitation.

Their entrance gained the attention of the strangely silent room and all eyes turned towards the trio.

"Did you bring him?" asked a terse voice. Looking around Blunt, Alex determined that the voice was from the Prime Minister himself, though, while the question was obviously directed at Mrs Jones and Blunt, he wasn't looking at them. Instead, he was glaring at two men who were seated at the far end of the table.

"Of course," replied Blunt emotionlessly as always. His face was betraying no sign of the previous anger and stress that he had shown as they left the car.

"Alex!" exclaimed one of the men, obviously relieved for a distraction from the glaring. "Thank you for coming! And I'd like you to meet Mitchell Reynolds." He said, nodding towards the man at his side, who, in turn, nodded politely to Alex.

"I must thank you for coming also Alex. Your work on Air Force One was a great service to both of our countries, and I am most glad to meet you again." These words provoked some surprised glance in Alex's direction and more than one curious stare. Most of the people in the room had seen Alex at the previous COBRA meeting and knew that he had a major part in the prevention of Invisible Sword, but few knew of Alex's detailed involvement with MI6.

"I'm assuming from the flattery that you have a job for me to do?" asked Alex, past the point of caring if he sounded rude, but to his surprise there were several reluctant chuckles around the room. Something flickered in Reynolds' eyes, and though it disappeared quickly, Alex was sure that it had been suppressed mirth.

"That is yet to be decided Alex."

Some of the people sitting at the main table were looking less than impressed however. "You are _not_ using a child, a _British_ child, in your search here. You cannot put a teenager in danger for your own cause!" exclaimed a greying man from his seat. His voice sounded weary, as if he had protested this option thoroughly and been ignored every time.

"He'll be protected," Reynolds disagreed lightly.

"By _him_? You would trust him and not us?!"

"He will work to his own cause. And his cause simply agrees with ours at this time."

Alex had no idea who they were talking about, though the man didn't sound all too trustworthy. Reynolds seemed to be convinced of his loyalty and discretion however. The question remaining was: should he trust Reynolds? He certainly wasn't indisposed to like him.

"Our primary concern will be Alex's safety," added Reynolds thoughtfully. "This man is the best man to protect him"

'_Then again,'_ thought Alex, _'he _does _seem genuinely concerned about my safety.'_

"Alex will be going nowhere!" interjected the Prime Minister angrily. "There will be no cause for you using him, and certainly not with _that_ man! We shall settle this now!"

"We will not talk with you! As we said in our official statement, we do not believe your parliament trustworthy. While you yourself may not be in on this destructive and vicious attack on our country, there is no telling who in your government _is_. We will not cooperate!"

"And yet you will enter my country and make false accusations towards my people? Your insults and mockery of our previously harmonious alliance will get you no closer to your goals!"

"Was that a threat? If you seriously think that-"

"Gentlemen! I do believe that this... altercation.... can be resolved peacefully," came a smooth voice from beside the Prime Minister. Moving slightly to the left, Alex saw a young man, barely older than twenty-five sitting calmly in his leather chair, sneering heavily at the Americans at the end of the table. He was sitting at the same chair that Mark Kellner had sat at in the previous meeting. Alex wondered briefly if this man was his replacement, though how he managed to obtain the job so incredibly young was beyond him.

"And how do you suggest this 'peaceful' ending shall arise, Cleland?" replied Reynolds, with a sneer to match the face of 'Cleland'.

Far from being taken back at the vicious hostility in his adversary's voice, Cleland simply replied with, "Why don't you wait for the demands, then pay them, and get your lying, selfish bastard of a Vice-President out of Britain!"

Predictably, there was an outrage from both the Americans and the British. Several of the men turned their glares from Reynolds to Cleland, some going as far as to stand and accuse him of worsening an already dire situation. Alex picked up several men around the room however, than simply stood and watched or smiled and nodded lightly at the man's words. Despite what Mrs Jones and Blunt had said, he had not entertained the idea of anyone from the British Government being involved in the kidnapping as a serious possibility. Now however, he could easily see some of the men trying to get revenge for what they saw as an unforgivable act of selfish cruelty.

Taking advantage of the chaos in the room, Mrs Jones and Blunt ushered Alex back out the door and into another office opposite the hall. The door swung closed with a light click and the noise from the heated debate was suddenly hushed.

Blunt and Mrs Jones were looking at Alex. "If they ask you," started Mrs Jones quietly, "will you say yes?"

Alex thought for a moment. The situation obviously needed to be resolved, and the sooner the better. And if the Americans trusted Alex, then him saying yes would definitely help put some trust back into the alliance, which would be needed in truckloads at the end of this. "Who did they have in mind for protection?"

Blunt and Mrs Jones looked at each other for a moment. "You must realise Alex, that we didn't even know about this until this morning-"

Suddenly, the door burst open and the Prime Minister entered the room, closely followed by Mitchell Reynolds and Joe Byrne. The two parties regarded each other for a moment, before Mr Byrne said, all too casually, "So, do you think they bought it?"

Alex raised his eyebrows. Seeing his confusion, Reynolds helpfully said, "We obviously needed to work out who to trust, so we set up the argument to test people's reactions. We've been working closely with the Prime Minister to help decide on the best course of action."

"I do believe that Cleland was by far the most hostile," stated the Prime Minister, rather obviously.

"Yes, well. I have his file here," said Blunt. "Simon Cleland, 24, incredibly intelligent, graduated from university at 17 with honours in Political Science and spent the next seven years studying for the job as Director of Communications. His promotion was an incredible upset to many other candidates and most of the government disagrees with the decision. Some of them believe that he bribed his way up to the top, and he certainly has very strong views."

"So he's young, smart, determined, and supposedly rich, with a grudge against the US government. I don't see this ending well at all..."

* * *

Wow! This chapter was longer than my other ones (if you really squint) and it took me about.. ooh, I dunno.... maybe.... 4 months less to write? :) and if you think of this as an extention to chapter 2, THEN it looks to be a half decent length

Hope you enjoyed it and I'll hopefully update with a longer and more detailed chapter soon!  
As always, review and I _swear_ I can make it better using your comments. It's in your best interests it review! Really! If you've gotten to chapter 3 and you're still reading, then you _have_ to have some constructive criticisim for me, don't you? I bet you're just dying to say it!

Anyway, thanks for reading!  
Jezza.


End file.
